Tag Archives: nissan

The Tokyo Motor Show has rolled around again, and like just about everything else, it seems to have been dealt a rather nasty blow by the recession. But despite the massively depleted participant list, it still seems to have mustered up a fair showing of whacky and whimsical concept vehicles. My personal favourite is the electric-powered Nissan Land Glider. It may not be fast, but what it lacks in speed, it more than makes up for with big massive slabs of geek-pleasing hi-tech shenanigans. Plus it kind of reminds me of the Light Cycles from Tron.

The list of cool features is pretty extensive. First off, it’s a bike/car hybrid, so the driver/rider coolly leans into the turns while the tires are held flat to the road – the degree of tilt is determined by some cool sounding sensors that detect vehicle speed, steering angle and yaw rate. As if that wasn’t cool enough, Nissan has also done away with the boring old steering wheel and replaced it with an almost unbearably cool aircraft-style joystick. There’s also a seriously cool camera and monitor setup to replace those dull old rear-view mirrors.

When I first saw the Land Glider I assumed it was a concept vehicle conceived by a wild-eyed designer oblivious to commercial considerations, but in a somewhat surprising turn of events it seems that it may be hitting a road near you in the not so distant future, Nissan even plan to import it to the US.

You ever notice how fish never, ever find themselves stuck in traffic jams? It’s frustrating, isn’t it? You’re stuck on the highway behind some yahoo in a 1994 Volvo 940 turbo wagon driving 3 miles an hour, and over there are a bunch of fish just crusin’ along at full speed. You might think it’s because fish can take advantage of a highway that’s about 1.347 billion cubic kilometers in volume, but you’d be wrong… It’s because they know how to school.

Technology and insects seem to mesh very well. There are so many gadgets out there that either resemble a bug or behave like one. Now car manufacturer Nissan is using bees for inspiration.

The Nissan Bumblebee is also known as the Biomimetic Car Robot Drive, or BR23C. The bumblebee car simulates a bee’s compound eyes by using a Laser Range Finder(LRF) to detect obstacles up to 2 metres(6.6 feet) away within a 180-degree radius in front of it. The moment it detects an obstacle it reacts like a bee and turns away from the obstacle at right angles to avoid hitting anything.

Unlike a bee, it is restricted to 2-dimensional movement and cannot move up or down.

It is hoped that the Bumblebee car will allow Nissan to develop a fully functional collision avoidance system for cars. Their goal is to reduce the current amount of car crashes in half by 2015.

OhGizmo! is a frequently updated blog that focuses on covering items that will appeal to a very specific and often very passionate audience: the geek. Aside from the fare of innovative consumer electronic products, the reader can expect to find news about geek culture, absurd inventions, awe inspiring technology, and an ever growing assortment of articles that we like to think fit within our view of what we’re calling the Geek Lifestyle.